UPBEAT TIMES • November 2012 • 8


Meanings and Myths about Minerals:


SEBASTOPOL, CA. ~ Yellow Topaz and Citrine are the modern Western cultures birthstone for October, if you use the calendar months.


Many


other traditions exist and you can find them on the internet.


Topaz is


the Zodiac stone for Sagittarius but both


are birthstones for the sign of Sagittarius, November 22 through December 21. Yellow Topaz is a Silicate mineral of Aluminum and Fluorine with the chemical formula Al2SiO4(F,OH)2, (Aluminum, Silica, Oxygen, Fluorine and an Oxygen/ Hydrogen molecule called a Hydroxyl). Topaz crystallizes in the Orthorhombic crystal system and its crystals are mostly prismatic. The name "Topaz" is derived


(via Old French: Topace and Latin: Topazus)


from the


Greek ΤΤπΤΤΤΤΤ (ΤΤpáziΤs) or ΤΤπΤΤΤΤΤ (ΤΤpáziΤn), the ancient


name of St. John's Island in the Red Sea from which a yellow stone (now believed to be Chrysolite, a Yellowish Olivine, Chrysoberyl or Peridot) was mined in ancient times; Topaz itself (rath- er than Topazios) wasn’t really known before the classical


era. Pliny says that Topazos


is a legendary island in the Red Sea and the mineral "Topaz" was first mined there. In the Middle Ages, the name Topaz was used to refer to any Yellow gem- stone, but in modern times it denotes only the Silicate described above. Many modern English translations of the Bible mention Topaz, including the King James Version in Exodus 28:17 in reference to a stone in the Hoshen, a sacred breastplate worn by the High Priest for


the Israelites: "And thou shalt


set in it settings of stones, even four rows of stones: the first row shall be a Sardius (a Red stone, probably Carnelian or Sard), a Topaz, and a Carbuncle (Garnet): this shall be the first row."


However,


because these translations as Topaz all derive from the


Septuagint translation The


Masoretic text has Pitdah as the gem the stone is made from; some scholars think it is related to an Assyrian word meaning "flashed". More likely, Pitdah is derived from Sanskrit words (ΤΤΤ pit = yel- low, ΤΤΤ dah = burn), meaning "Yellow burn" or, metaphori- cally, "fiery".


The Greeks


Topazi[os], which as men- tioned above referred to a yel- low stone that was not Topaz, but


probably remember that the


Chrysolite, current


Topaz is likely not meant here. We have Positive Solutions to


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believed it had power to increase strength and to make its wearer invis- ible while the Romans believed it had power to improve eyesight. The Egyptians wore it as an amulet to protect them from injury. Pure topaz is col- orless and transparent but is usually tinted by impurities; typical


topaz colors are wine, Yellow, pale Gray, Reddish-Orange, or Blue-Brown.


For the fac-


eters, Topaz has a hardness of 8 on the Mohs scale with a Refractive Index (the angle the light refracts) of 1.63, a Critical Angle of 38° and the main facet angle for Topaz is 41° to 42°. Yellow Topaz and Citrine are the modern Western cul- tures birthstone for October, if you use the calendar months. Many other traditions exist and you can find them on the internet. Topaz is the Zodiac stone for Sagittarius but both are birthstones for the sign of Sagittarius, November 22


Continued on page 17... Weird Facts & Trivia - 3


Many people report drowsiness after eating Thanksgiving dinner. While turkey often receives the blame, studies suggest that carbohydrate-rich meals may cause sleepiness by increasing the number of tryptophans in the brain. It is the unusually large, multi-coursed, carbohydrate- rich meal most people eat on Thanksgiving that is more likely the cause of the drowsiness. So just eat the turkey and the vegetables and you may not feel drowsy. What, no stuffing, potatoes, rolls, or pie?


About 7% of shoppers wait until the day before Thanksgiving to shop for their food. About 36% shopped for their Thanksgiving food a week or more ahead of time.


JOKES & Humor # 4


A young man in college called his mother and announced excitedly that he had just met the girl of his dreams. Now what should he do? His mother had an idea: "Why don't you send her flowers, and on the card invite her to your apartment for a home-cooked meal?" He thought this was a great strategy, and a week later, the girl came to


dinner. His mother called the next day to see how things had gone. "I was totally


humiliated," he moaned. "She insisted on washing the dishes.""What's wrong with that?" asked his mother. "We hadn't started eating yet."


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8 • November 2012 • UPBEAT TIMES


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email info@restoration-studio.com Wind supports all flags no matter what the flag supports. ~ Les Coleman


Yellow Topaz, Citrine


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